Product Description

Put your critical thinking to the test and fire up the strategic problem solving! Stack, pattern and match the multicolor shapes. Don’t be fooled by appearances, these endlessly enjoyable blocks mean brain-boosting business. Mental Blox help children practice following verbal instructions, asking questions and build critical thinking skills. Activity cards provide children with examples of what to build. Children can recreate what is on the card or can give verbal instructions to a partner or group. Pieces feature four different shapes and 3 different attributes for a real challenge!

Both my kids (2 and 5) love this set, and I love that it doubles as a concentration/memory/strategy game and colorful building blocks!

I use this set with my 2-year-old by asking him to:

• Hand me a blue circle or purple square (color & shape differentiation)• Stack certain shapes on top of others (learning to follow instructions)• Hand me the shape identical to the one I am holding (there are two of each block)

Two ways to play:

1. Players are allowed to look at one of the challenge cards for 10 seconds, then they try to re-build the pattern from memory! They look at the card in 10-second increments.2. Someone not on either team (a "caller") describes verbally what is in the picture and the teams try to re-build the pattern by description and memory.

The cards come in varying levels of challenge from easy to hard, and there are optional bonus questions at the bottom of each card. The blocks themselves are made of a light but tough plastic, are hollow, and feel well-made. They stack sturdily (obviously or I wouldn't be able to stack the spheres so high!) and aren't too easy to topple over.

My 5-year-old really enjoys playing independently, pulling out random cards and copying the pattern exactly. It sounds easier than it is – I've challenged her to get everything just right and it has taught her to be more observant of small details like whether or not the lines on a block are vertically or horizontally oriented.

I can't think of anything we don't like about this set – isn't that awesome? :) It's recommended for kids age 5-13 but I would say younger children will enjoy it as well since there are ways to simplify the gameplay.

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What you see is literally what you get. Guess I had high Expectations, was a little disappointed. But the Concept is Clever!

What you see is literally what you get. Guess I had high Expectations, was a little disappointed. But the Concept is Clever!

Adults who have taken any machine drawing classes can relate to the premise of this puzzle and game. Take an object and envision how it looks from the top, front, side left, side right or the bottom.

Mental Blox adds a building dimension to this where the many blocks in the box all fit together in some configuration. It's not an interlocking puzzle, rather the blocks need to look like they do on a corresponding card. Start with the first cards and it's pretty simple. Our 7 year old could do the front facing and top cards pretty easily.

Once things shifted to a side right or side left view it got more challenging for him. There are 40 different card puzzles and he got to the 11th card without any help, but then had to tag up for a little assistance. Some of the puzzle pieces are rounded, triangular, square, arrow shaped and beyond.

The cards are coded by their ease, green, yellow and red. Adults will have to take a moment to look at all of the pieces and figure out how the red cards are accomplished. For example, card 40 has 9 blocks that need to fit together. Our five year old had trouble with the first cards and is a bit too young for them now. He just turned five, we'll try again in a month or so.

For the price point this is a very nice, critical thinking puzzle/game that will assist kids in looking at things from a different angle. It's a good puzzle comparable to chess. Granted chess has thousands of moves and possibilities, but that too helps kids know that there is more than one way to approach something.

"Do not be fooled by its appearance" could not have been a better description of this awesome toy! I gave these to my 4 yr old for her birthday and a month later it's still her favorite toy to play with. To watch her progression in just one week was amazing to me. I initially purchased them to work on her focus and listening skills. I was so impressed to watch her critical thinking at work - she would chose a card, build it , then double check her own work and to watch that process was amazing to me.. Her attention span was extremely short but now she sits here for long periods of time (for her.. 15 min to half hour) wanting to try the harder cards. A little frustration sometimes but after words of encouragement she gets it and I love to see her confidence and sense of accomplishment grow! What has amazed me is how these look so simple until you watch them at play and all the important benefits they receive from them. My one wish is that they make more cards available to add to the set!

Once your child gets the hang of the game, like any other game, they are going to want to play it more often. However, this game, unlike a lot of other games, makes them think unlike other games. Which in my opinion is a win – win situation. You can play this game as individuals or as teams. Some kids are going to catch on a little quicker, while it will be a challenge for others. That's the great thing about the Mental Blox Game though, the game is great for all different skill levels.

The Mental Blox Game is a fun, educational game that also focuses on motor skills. You can play by creating the patterns on the cards, your own, or turn it into races to create the patterns first. It is great family fun.Read my full review here:http://mommomonthego.com/mental-blox-game/

This is an awesome game that will keep the whole family busy, it does state that this is for ages 5-13, the whole family enjoyed it. This game will have you thinking and building, its a great brain-booster that can keep you thinking and trying.

The kit comes with 20 different cards with different things to build/replicate. As well as 20 shapes/pieces, 2 of each, and 4 different shapes. Making this even more interesting. Also the box is perfect for storage, as it has a place for everything so you can quickly see if all the items are picked up and in its place.

The goal is to replicate the image with the shapes blocks. some are harder then others, and getting the pieces in the right direction can sometimes be a little tricky. We have had some laughs and enjoyed trying to build them all. The best is to find cards that can be built twice and race. We have really enjoyed this kit.

This is an yet another awesome toy/game from Learning Resources. I have been nothing but impressed with the amazing quality of products and the wonderful educational value that their items have. My daughter has struggled with some of them but over time, she has really learned and grown thanks to these amazing products.

I received this product from Learning Resources for a review. All opinions expressed are my own. This product was a perfect fit for our shelves. My daughter just turned 4 and loves to play games that encourage thinking. She used this game as directed at first and was able to do almost half of the activity cards with a little guidance. She also loves using the cards to build what is shown or just use the blocks to build how she would like to. There are many ways to use this game!

Mental Blox is a brain boosting hands-on strategy game that was released this year by Learning Resources. It's geared toward children ages 5-13 and there's a wide variety of ways to use the game! I will vouch that there's more than meets the eye on the surface of Mental Blox. It can either be a look & build stacking game, a listen and build game, and you can use it to teach a child about pattern sequencing as well as take an approach to educate a child on geometric shapes and the correct names.

Included in the Mental Blox set is are 20 double sided Activity/Question Cards, A Guide, and 20 Blocks (2 sets of 10). The blocks are made out of plastic. The patterns on the blocks range from stripes, polka dots, and solids. Colors include are very appealing to children! There's bright orange, blue, purple, and green. The shapes are pyramids, spheres, squares, and x blocks. The blocks seem very durable and can be cleaned easily if need be. The box allows for easy storage as you can just put every pack away in the inner cardboard cooperated compartments. The game literally takes up no space at all.

I'm pleased to say that I was able to make Mental Blox work for than one of my children, especially because each of my children have different learning styles. This set appealed greatly to them both! The cards whether doing Look & Build or Listen and Build start at the easiest with card #1 and then get harder all the way up #40.

My daughter age 5 years old did well with both of the suggested games in the guide. And I was very happy in how well she was able to follow heard instructions which isn't normally one of her strongest areas of focus. I also liked using the set to help her work on her observation skills. For example showing her the card for 10 seconds and not letting her build it till I took the card away. She was able to completely the easy cards very quickly but totally was challenged when the harder cards came out.

My nearly 3 year old son did well looking at the cards and re-creating exactly what he saw. I also let him free play with the pieces as well as instruct him with what each shapes name is. So we'll be going through those throughout our school year often since it's so great for the brain and helps improve fine motor skills! And the fact both my kids love the game makes it a win-win situation.

I highly recommend Mental Blox for any home or classroom use! Five out of five stars!

I was sent this product for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own. This game is so fun and our entire family enjoys playing. What I love most about this is that the skill level is great for all of us. It's not too hard or too easy for any of us, especially when we team up (which almost always happens because if one of us plays, everyone wants to play)! On those occasions when we don't play together, my kids still enjoy the challenge of building without the need to challenge another person or team; it's just fun to play with the blocks! With 20 double-sided cards, the fun never ends. It's been a great tool to help encourage listening as well.